No One Knows Her Better
by WaterbendingBabe
Summary: "People don't understand why I'm friends with Cindy. To most people, Cindy is bossy, a know-it-all and cold." On her wedding day, Libby reflects on her friendship with Cindy. Libby/Cindy friendship one-shot with some JC and LS fluff


**A/N: I'm always amazed by the lack of Cindy/Libby friendship stories in this category. In my opinion, they had one of the best cartoon girl friendships ever. So I decided to remedy that:) Please R&R!**

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The lights overhead seemed to shine extra bright and reflected off the hundreds of crystals that were laced into my bodice. I gave another sigh and patted my hair nervously.

"You like fine." I glanced at my bridesmaid Tina who was smiling at me in the reflection.

"Thanks," I muttered, my nerves taking over my body again.

Brittany my other bridesmaid chuckled. "You don't believe us do you?" I started to say something but Tina interrupted. "Of course not! The only person she'd believe is Cindy."

"And where _is_ the maid of honor?" I inquired.

We all looked around but it was plain to see that my blonde counterpart was nowhere to be found. "Where is she?" I grumbled. But I wasn't dumb. I knew exactly where she was and who she was with.

"I tell ya," Tina muttered under her breath, "that girl has the attention span of a fly." while Brittany nodded in agreement.

I whipped around and glared at them, "That girl also happens to be my best friend!"

Both had the decency to look ashamed at my reprimand. "Look," I said with a sigh. "Cindy can be…difficult and different I know but you don't know what she's been through and you don't know her like I do. That being said, I'd appreciate if you backed off." I snapped.

They both nodded and muttered an apology before they needed to go 'fix their makeup' in the adjoining bathroom. I nodded for them to go and when they did, I sighed and laid my forehead against the mirror with a sigh. I shouldn't have been surprised as this kind of thing happened all the time. People just couldn't understand.

I have been best friends with Cindy Vortex since the day we were born. It was kind of funny how it all worked out, her mother and my mother were in the same book club at the Retroville Women's Auxiliary, but they did not start to be friends until they found out that they were pregnant around the same time. Technically, we were born two months apart, Cindy in June and me in August. But it was close enough for our mothers and not long after they started to plan play dates and that is all it took.

People don't understand why I'm friends with Cindy. To most people, Cindy is bossy, a know-it-all and cold. I suppose that to the untrained eye, that is exactly what people would see.

They thought that they understood her, but in truth, they didn't. Cindy was apt at hiding her true self from the world and she was extremely good at it. In high school, she perfected her acting skills as that's when her entire world fell apart. Very few people knew how extensive the discord was for her at home. To say her parents were having issues would be the understatement of the year. "They hate each other." She confided in me one night while we were having a sleepover at my house. "They absolutely hate each other." And it seemed to get worse as the weeks went on.

"Have you been crying?" I asked her one morning before school started. Her hands flew to her face and she immediately denied it but I shook my head. "C'mon Cin, I'm your best friend. Don't lie to me." She immediately dragged me off to the bathroom while she attempted to cover up her red eyes and blotched cheeks. In between the eye drops, foundation and eye liner, she told me what had happened the night before.

"The divorce is enviable now." She concluded as she told me about the fight her parent's had the night before, which apparently involved her dad threatening her mom and her mom throwing a lamp at her dad. She eyed her reflection in the mirror. "How do I look?"

I eyed her carefully constructed mask carefully. "You couldn't even tell." I responded and she beamed. It was a routine that she constructed carefully. After the official announcement of her parents' divorce, it was rare to see Cindy Vortex without makeup. In truth, the only times I saw her without makeup was late at night when it was just the two of us. I knew that the mask she put on was emotionally and physically. She cried, but late at night when no one was around then choosing to cover it up with foundation and blush. She covered it emotionally as well, going on her routine as if nothing was wrong.

As she told me that morning in the bathroom, the divorce was inevitable. Finally, on a chilly January evening she called me. "The divorce will be finalized tomorrow." She told me, hiccupping to cover a sob. By the next morning, the whole town had heard. Everyone kept stopping her to tell her sorry they were but she shrugged them off, attempting to keep her cool. Later, she confided in me the thing that had her more on edge than anything else. "The custody agreement," She grumbled as she paged through books for her history report, "is that I will spend weekdays with my dad and then weekends with my mom. Which-" She paused to swap books, "Is complete bull shit because neither of them wants me." I attempted to reassure her that that wasn't true, of course her parents wanted her, but deep down inside, I wasn't so sure.

At first it seemed that the custody agreement was actually working. Besides some minor complaints from Cindy ("all my mom does is work, all my dad does is sit in front of the TV and watch sports", and "they just keep blaming each other.") it seemed to be going rather smoothly, or so I thought. On a rainy February day at around midnight there was a loud knock, or rather banging, on my front door. My mother went to answer it as I stood on the stairs curiously. The door opened to reveal an extremely soaked Cindy. She shifted the worn out army green duffel bad she had on her hip. "Hey, Mrs. Folfax. I know it's late but, um, is Libby here?" Sensing something was wrong my mom gestured to me on the stairs and I motioned for her to follow me to my room.

Once we got there, Cindy didn't say a word, instead pulling off her soaked faded yellow Converse and peeled off her Batman sweatshirt as she changed into something dry. I didn't say anything either. I had known Cindy long enough to know that she would get around to saying whatever was on her mind, even if it took her a little longer to get there. Finally, donning an old middle school basketball t-shirt and sweatpants she inquired, "Can I spend the night?"

"Of course." I responded automatically. "Did you bring clothes for school tomorrow?" She nodded and sat herself on the edge of my bed where I joined her. We sat in silence for a while before she whispered. "I hate my parents."

I waited.

She got to her feet and began to pace. "I mean I'm just doing my homework and suddenly I hear noises downstairs and go to investigate. What do I see? My dad passed out naked on the couch and vomit everywhere. I attempted to clean it up, but then my dad wakes up and just started saying how he never wanted a daughter and how I was a mistake and-"A sob escapes her body and she presses two fingers to her lips to keep herself calm. I wait. Finally, she takes a deep breath before continuing. "So, I call my mother. She coldly informs me that she's going on a date in twenty minutes and that I'm not her responsibility right now and hangs up." Now she loses it. I get up and lead her back to the bed and pull her into a hug and she cries. She doesn't have to finish the story, I can fill it in. She got frustrated so she left and came to the only place that felt safe for her, my house.

Soon, I could count on Cindy's late night visits. My parents wouldn't say anything when she would knock on the door, they'd simply let her come up to my room. She'd walk in, through her duffle bag on the floor and ask, "Can I spend the night?" I don't know why she bothered to ask, we both knew I would say nothing besides yes. The stories of what happened between t her and her parents get progressively worse. When Cindy would leave no one called to check up on her, neither of them seemed to care where she was. "They have completely new lives." Cindy explained when I asked her about it. "I remind them of each other. I don't fit in with that."

I may say I know her best, but there was someone else who started to know her almost as well; Jimmy Neutron. No matter how much they tried to deny it, there was always feelings there. When the divorce proceedings first started, she pushed him away but, and I had to hand it to Jimmy as he didn't give up easily, he pursued her anyway. He lent her notes to the classes she missed that I wasn't in, helped her catch up when she was behind on homework and even took her out for dinner on her birthday.

I kept trying to tell Cindy that Jimmy was interested in her romantically but she kept brushing me off. "No he's not Libs." She told me after he invited her to see a movie with him. "He's just being nice." I snorted. "All that romantic stuff is for you and Sheen." I rolled my eyes. Sheen and I had been going steady for about a year now and it was from Sheen that I got all my information on Jimmy wanting to date Cindy. Well, that and the fact that it was obvious to pretty much everyone but Cindy.

"You cannot be that oblivious." I reprimanded her from my spot on my bed. She raised an eyebrow. "How do you possibly not see it?" She didn't say anything and it clicked in my brain. "You do see it, don't you?" She shrugged. "You do see it! But why don't you do anything about it? It's obvious you like him as much as he likes you."

She sighed and laid her phone in her lap. "Look, Libby I-I just don't know okay."

"Cin, just because things didn't work out for your parents doesn't mean-"

"I know okay?!" She shouted. She sighed again and said softer "I know. That's what Jimmy said to. He cornered me in the park last night after I left my make-up lab. He told me that he loved me."

I gaped at her. "What'd you say girl?"

"Nothing. When he asked me how I felt I said…I said I didn't know."

"But you do know."

"I do." She agreed. "But with all this happening with my parents, I just, froze. And I know that just because of what happened with my parents doesn't mean that it will happen to me but I just…" She shook her head. "He told me to think about it. He said that he can't wait around forever for me, it's not fair to him and I agree."

"You gotta jump Cindy." I said quietly. "You can't let your situation with your parents rule your life."

"I know." She whispered. I crawled off the bed and sat next to her on the floor. "C'mon girl." I whispered. "Where's my headstrong best friend? The one who knows what she wants and goes after it?"

"She left. A long time ago."

I shook my head. "No, she's not, she's right here. She just needs to stop moping about her past, stop focusing on the things that she can't change and focus on what she can change."

She looked at me and in the glint in her eyes, I saw the old Cindy. "I suppose you're right." She said as she got to her feet and headed towards the bathroom. "But," she said turning back to me, "You need to help me figure out what to wear."

"Duh."

Turns out I need not have worried. Cindy told Jimmy that she loved him back and they started dating right away. But what should have been the happiest time of her life was anything but. We were hanging out at my house, Jimmy, Cindy, Carl, Carl's new girlfriend Lydia, Sheen and myself when the phone-call came.

"Cindy?" My mom inquired as she poked her head into the living room where we were watching movies. "Telephone. It's your-your mom's lawyer."

Cindy and I both froze as we stared at each other. Cindy hadn't had contact with her parents in months and was pretty much living at my house. Honestly, I had completely forgotten about them. But we both knew that this was not going to be pleasant. Cindy took a deep breath and untangled herself from Jimmy's embrace and took the phone from my mom. "Hello? Yes, this is she." There was a long silence on the other end as Cindy listened. She paced back and forth biting her bottom lip, never a good sign.

"No, I-well, yes but-" More silence. "Look." Cindy growled, clearly upset. "I don't see why-well, no but." By this time everyone had picked up on her distressed. My parent's watched from the doorway, anxious looks on their faces, Jimmy had sat up clearly debating about whether or not to go over and comfort her, Carl, Sheen, and Lydia sat frozen in their spots watching Cindy, and my grip on the arm of the chair was so strong that my knuckles were turning white.

"Very well." Cindy finally responded after another long pause. "If that's what it takes. No, I don't need a lawyer but I will be bringing my best friend." Her eyes flickered to me and I nodded. "Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you very much and we shall see you in a couple of minutes." She hung up the phone and turned to me. "C'mon Libs."

I jumped up and followed her as she grabbed her purse and her keys ignoring the chaos that was going on behind us of people demanding to know what was going on. She ignored everyone completely as we walked out to her car and headed to downtown Retroville. Our phones started to ring the minute we backed out of the driveway (Her's most likely Jimmy; mine most likely Sheen with my parents probably calling both of us). "So, where are we going?"

She gave a deep sigh and now I could plainly see the worry on her face. "Richmond and Sons." Her mother's lawyer's office. "Why?"

"You'll see."

Once inside the building we were ushered into a small room containing Cindy's parents and their lawyers. Her parents glared stonily at us as we sat down across the table. "Now Cindy." Mr. Ottumus, her dad's lawyer started, "I assume you know why we're here."

"I assume you got my paperwork?"

Her mother glared at her. "Young lady, you are not getting emancipation!" I stared at Cindy in shock. Before I could say anything, Cindy glanced at me with a look that clearly said "I'll explain later" and turned back to her parents.

"Why not? Technically neither of you have been taking care of me, or seeing me for that matter, for almost seven months now. Neither of you want me in your lives. What's the problem?"

No one quite knew what to say. Finally her dad attempted. "Cindy, you don't have-"

"Don't have what? A home? The Folfax's said I could live with them as long as I needed. Money? I have a part time job. A name to put on my college loans? I just received early acceptance and a full-ride to Harvard. So I repeat, what's the problem?"

"You what-?" I hissed at her and she kicked me under the table. Mr. Richmond turned to us. "Cindy, Libby, would you mind waiting in the hall for a moment?" Obediently we did so. Once the door closed I whirled around to my best friend. "You filed for emancipation?" I screeched.

"Yes." She responded calmly. "It only makes sense." She eyed me carefully. "What part exactly are you mad about Libby? The fact that I did it or the fact that I did it behind your back?" I was silent. We both knew what part I was upset about. "Look." She said as she scooted closer to me. "If it makes you feel better I didn't tell anyone except the lady at the courthouse who helped me fill out the paperwork."

"Not even Jimmy?"

She shook her head. "No, not even Jimmy. He really has no idea how bad my family life is. He wouldn't understand."

"I would have."

Another sigh. "I know. But I really felt I needed to do this on my own, especially if things went south."

I glanced towards the closed door. "And Harvard?"

She smiled then. "They just called me yesterday! So, if you get into that fancy design school in New York City, which I'm sure you will, I'm still within driving distance!"

I didn't want to think of us being apart, not yet, but I still managed a smile. After all, I was extremely happy for her. "Congrats!" I squealed hugging her tight. Then I looked towards the closed door again. "So now what?"

She followed my gaze and sighed. "They have to accept it. They just have to."

And they did. Following her newly gained independence, Cindy was almost back to her old self. It was comforting to see. She never talked about her parents, and who could blame her? Her mom moved out to Maine with her new boyfriend and the one time that she went to visit her dad, she found his house empty with a For Sale sign in the front yard, and no forwarding address. She never tried to contact either of them again.

Two years later we were packing. Like Cindy predicted, I was accepted at the Parsons School of Design with full honors. While we were further away than we ever had before, we saw each other once a month, with weekly phone calls. It was like we were never actually apart. We would spend the nights drinking wine, Facebook creeping old classmates, and catching up on the latest antics of Jimmy, Carl and Sheen. In those moments, it was like we were back in my room during high school, the two of us against the world.

I graduated in the top of my class and a few weeks after my honeymoon, Sheen and I would be moving back to The Big Apple so I could start my new job working for Marc Jacobs. I had managed to get Sheen a job as one of the male models and it was like a dream come true. Cindy had also graduated the top of her class (not like anyone was surprised) and was working at a law firm in Massachusetts. I had it on good authority that Jimmy was going to propose to Cindy on her birthday in a few months, meaning that she'd be moving with him to Florida so he could keep up his work at NASA.

I smiled as I leaned back in my chair, eyeing my reflection critically. Cindy was the closest thing I ever had to a sister. The moment after Sheen proposed, I was on the phone with Cindy, asking her to be my maid of honor. After all, who else could it possibly be? A giggling outside the door caught my attention. I turned around just in time to see Cindy waltz through the doorway, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks flushed.

"Aren't you suppose to wait until AFTER the ceremony to hook up with the best man?" I teased.

She flushed a deeper shade of pink but grinned. "What can I say? He looked damn handsome in that tux. I couldn't help myself." We shared a laugh and that's when I noticed her looking at me in mirror, a peculiar look upon her face.

"What?" I asked.

She smiled and shook her head. "Nothing. You look gorgeous by the way."

"Thanks," I smiled back at her and then raised an eyebrow. "But what else is on your mind? Spill girl."

She raised her eyes to the celling and shook her head. "It's hard to believe that we're here, you know? You getting married and all. I just- that is to say I- well, thanks. For everything. Really."

I smiled at her knowingly and leaned over to pat her hand. "It was nothing." I said softly. "You're the closest thing I've ever had to a sister and I'd do anything for you. You know that."

She started to say something else before Tina and Brittany walked in. "It's time!" They cried in unison and Cindy and I got up to get in line.

"Neutron!" I bellowed as we were getting into formation. "I swear if you mess up my maid of honor's make-up, I am going to kick your ass!"

Jimmy pulled back from Cindy and smirked. "I don't know what you mean." He said grinning.

I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but giggle. _They're perfect._ I couldn't help but think to myself. "Can you please keep it in your pants until after the reception?" I inquired.

He laughed and kissed Cindy's forehead. "Well, I've waited all afternoon, I suppose I could honor the bride's request." Cindy managed to whack him in the forearm before the ominous tones of the wedding march started.

I took a deep breath as my dad led me down the aisle. When I reached Sheen, a huge smile broke out on my face. Everything was perfect. I was about to marry the man of my dreams with my best friend looking on. I managed a peek at Cindy, who gave me a beaming smile. She may be bossy, a know-it-all and cold, but she was also caring, kindhearted and the best friend a girl could ask for. People might not see that, but no one knows her better. And I'm okay with that.


End file.
